Fate Unknown
by Myuu-Deoxys
Summary: Yami Mutou must help save the woman he loves from clutches of Zork Nerophaduis.
1. Chapter 1

Fate Unknown

By: Myuu-Deoxys

Chapter 1

It was a typical morning in the Mutou household. Valencia had just finished her morning chores and was settling down with a cup of tea to watch the news whileYugi merrily swept the floor.

"The mysterious disappearance of Professor Seto Kabia and the crystalline entity that has appeared outside his Domino-City

mansion tops our stories today."

A wave of shock ran through Valenica.

_Seto? Oh, no!_

She quickly ran to the refrigerator door and started yanking off memos, old shopping lists, and other bits of paper until she found what she was looking for.

"How much more can Seto go through?" she agonized as she located the picture she was searching for. It was a picture of Seto, his wife Sernity, and their daughter Emily. Standing next to the Kabias was another family: Yugioh, Yami, and Valencia.

Many years ago, both Seto, Valencia and Yami had been graduate students at Professor Hopskin's lab. They were old friends and Valencia had been thrilled to see Seto again after so many years. Shortly after she had started working at the lab, Valencia's boyfriend left her for his ex-girlfriend. After his departure, Seto had tried to pursue a relationship with Valencia, but Yami was the man who had won her heart.

Yami lifted the first picture to reveal another one. This one was even older than the first one, taken while she was a student at the lab. It had been taken the day Seto had departed for a six-week expedition with Professor Hopskin, an expert in legendary Duel-Monster Cards.

While Seto was gone, Yami and Valencia had given into their mutual longing for each other. That night of passion nine months later resulted in the birth of one Yugioh Mutou. But they couldn't tell anyone their secret. If word ever got out that King of Games had slept with Yugi's sister and gotten her pregnant, the resulting scandal would destroy his career. And Valencia couldn't live with herself knowing that she was responsible for that.

But Seto knew. He was the only other person who knew their secret. He had figured it out when he returned from his expedition. Shortly thereafter, he left the lab for good to become Professor Hopskin's research assistant. While he was working for Professor Hopskin, Seto met another graduate student named Serenity Wheeler. She was working on her Ph.D. in archaeology and Seto was immediately smitten. They married the following year and settled in Pallet Town for a couple of years after getting their respective degrees. Even though they now lived in Domino-City with their daughter Emily, they stopped by to visit Valencia and Yugioh once in a while. That was, until a little over two years ago when Serenity disappeared while on an archaeological expedition. Seto was heartbroken and tried the best he could to raise Emliy on his own, often calling Valencia for advice. He had even called her last week about Valencia's refusal to eat any foods that were green.

"I don't know what I'm going to do with her, Valencia. She's got to eat her vegetables."

"Don't worry about it, Seto. It's a stage that most kids go through."

"Did Yugioh ever do this?"

"Well, no. I've never had a problem with Yugioh refusing food."

Seto smiled.

Valencia continued. "One thing you might want to try is blending in the green stuff with food of another color. You could puree spinach or broccoli into spaghetti sauce and she'd never notice. Or you could go crazy with food coloring and turn her green beans red or blue or some other wild color. Yugioh used to like when I'd turn his mashed potatoes orange or purple."

Seto laughed. "I'll have to tell the cook about that. Maybe I'll give purple mashed potatoes a try tonight at dinner! Thanks, Valenica."

"Good luck, Seto. Give Emily a hug for me."

"I will. Tell Yugioh that whenever he's in Domino-City he and his friends are more than welcome to stop by."

"I'll do that. Bye, Seto."

"Good-bye, Delia. And thanks again."

_Poor Seto_, she thought as she hung up the phone. _Even with all of those servants, he still needs someone to help him raise Emily._

Seto had been thinking the same thing. Even though he knew that Valencia still loved Yami, there were often times when he wished that things had worked out differently between them. The other night he had even dreamed that he and Valencia had gotten married and were raising Emily together.

Emily's tugging at his sleeve interrupted his thoughts. "What are you thinking about, Papa?"

"Oh, just thinking about an old friend, Emily," he said as he swept his daughter up in his arms. "Come on. Let's go talk to the cook about dinner tonight!"


	2. Chapter 2

**Chaper 2**

Yami and his friend, Joey, had been in the middle of analyzing Seto's research notes when Valencia came rushing into the lab.

"Have you seen the news about Domino-City?"

"I'm going there. This may be connected with Seto's research."

"I'm going with you," Valencia declared.

_Oh, no. Not again_.

The last time he had taken Valencia with him on a trip, they had nearly been killed in a helicopter crash in the Orange Islands. Well, this time he was going to put his foot down and absolutely refuse to let her come with him. He wasn't going to risk losing her again. As he opened his mouth, her worried eyes met his.

_Oh, Valencia, don't look at me like that. You know I can't refuse you when you look at me with those eyes._

"You've known Seto since you were a schoolgirl, haven't you?"

"I'm worried about him. And I'm worried about Emily," she continued.

Even though he and Valencia had been lovers for years, Yami was somewhat envious of the close friendship Valencia had with Seto. Especially more so now that Seto's wife was gone.

"So am I, Valencia. So am I." Even though he tried to disguise it, the jealousy in his voice was evident.

Joey watched the entire scene with fascination. Even though he didn't let on, he knew all about Yami and Valencia's relationship. Even though they tried to be discreet, one morning he had awakened early and saw Valencia sneaking out of his Yami's bedroom.

"Come on, then. Let's get ready to go." Yami turned to his Joey. "Joey, you're in charge until we get back."

"Don't worry, Yami. I'll take care of everything while you're gone."

During the long ride to Domino-City, Valencia, lost in thought, stared out the car window.

"What's on your mind, Valencia?"

"emily. First her mother Serenity, disappears, and now Seto."

"Don't worry, Valencia. We'll get Seto back somehow." He stared at the road for a few moments, debating whether or not to tell her what was on his mind. Her reaction to Seto's disappearance had brought the suspicion that had always been in the back of his mind to the forefront.

_Damn it, I have to know._

"Valencia," he continued, "even though you and Seto are good friends, was there ever something more between you?"

Valencia stared at him. "What do you mean?"

"I mean, were the two of you ever…involved?"

Valencia's face turned red.

_Oh, no. Oh, Valencia, please don't tell me what I think you're going to say._

"Yami, do you remember when I found out when I was pregnant with Yugioh?"

"Yes."

"I was so upset when you told me that the only reason that you wanted to marry me was because I was pregnant."

"Valencia, that's not true…"

"Please let me finish, Yami."

Seto was packing, getting ready to leave Valencia. He was going to return to Kabia Cop. Research Laboratory. There was no reason for him to stay there now. The woman he had wanted was carrying another man's baby.

As he tossed a pile of socks into a suitcase, there was a knock at the door of his apartment.

Seto threw open the door and was surprised to see a frail-looking Valencia standing on his doorstep.

"Valencia? What are you doing here?"

"I…I…oh, Seto, I don't know what I'm going to do," she gulped. "Can I please come in?"

"Sure. Of course." He guided her past the boxes and piles of clothes strewn on the floor and led her to the couch. Valencia pushed aside a stack of papers and sat down. "Do you need anything, Valencia? Something to drink? Do you feel like eating anything?"

"Maybe a couple of crackers if you have them. The doctor said that it helps keep the nausea down if you eat something."

"Sure." He started searching through the boxes on the kitchen floor, trying to remember where he had packed the crackers. "Uh, just a second…I'll find them eventually." He started rummaging through the cabinets and finally located a box of slightly stale saltines. "Here. They might be a little old, though."

"That's okay," Valencia smiled slightly as he handed her the box. Seto had always been such a good friend to her, looking out for her.

"Are you okay, Valencia? What's the matter?" He threw the stack of papers on the floor and sat down beside her.

"Everything," she sighed as she nibbled on one of the stale crackers. "I'm pregnant. I'm going to have to move out of my apartment over the lab because pretty soon everyone will suspect that something's going on between me and Yami. And, worst of all, he doesn't really want to marry me in the first place."

Seto was incredulous. "He got you pregnant and he doesn't want to marry you? That son of a…"

"Wait, Seto. It's not like that. He asked me, but I…I don't want him to feel like he has to do this just because I'm pregnant. Like I've trapped him."

"But you didn't deliberately set out to get pregnant…did you?"

Valencia was stunned. "How can you say such a thing, Seto? Of course I didn't! Why would I do such a thing?" She started to cry.

"Oh, Valencia, I'm sorry. I didn't mean it." He took her in his arms. "That was a pretty stupid thing for me to say. I'm sorry." As he stroked her hair, he was overcome by a wave of sympathy for the pregnant woman crying in his arms. He gently kissed the top of her head. "Please don't cry, Valencia. Everything will be all right."

"Tell me that again, Seto," she gulped as she nuzzled his neck.

"Everything will be all right, Valencia. It will."

_Oh, Valencia, don't do this to me. You've broken my heart once already. _

Holding her in his arms, feeling her soft lips against his neck…he wanted her now more than ever.

Slowly, he lifted her chin and kissed her on the lips. "I'll take care of you, Valencia. If he doesn't want you, I do. I've always wanted you."

Valencia's eyes widened in surprise.

"Let me take care of you, Valencia," Seto said as he kissed away the tears on her face. "You and the baby. I don't care if it's his or not." She shivered in pleasure as his kisses continued down her neck. "I'll make you happy, I promise. Marry me instead, Valencia."

"Seto? Are you crazy? I can't…oh, Seto." His hands were now unbuttoning her shirt and his lips were working their way inside.

"Marry me, Valencaa. I mean it. Oh, God, you're so beautiful. He's crazy for not wanting you."

Valencia couldn't think straight anymore. All she wanted to do was forget the agony and tumult of the last few days: the morning sickness and the subsequent revelation that she was pregnant, the disappointment that Yami had asked her to marry him out of obligation and not love, Seto announcing that he was leaving, worrying about where she was going to live and how she was going to support herself and a baby on her own.

"Oh, Seto…"

"You _slept_ with him?" They had parked by the side of the road after Yami had nearly swerved off of the highway. "Oh, Valencia, why didn't you tell me?" He closed his eyes and leaned against the steering wheel.

"I'm sorry, Yami. So sorry. It happened just that one time. I was so upset, and Seto…he asked me to marry him."

Yami's head shot up. "He did WHAT?"

"Well, what did you expect?" Valencia shot back. "He loved me, too. He said that if you didn't want to take care of me, he would."

"But, damn it, Valencia, I did! I asked you to marry me!"

"We've been through this before a thousand times, Yami. You only asked me because I was pregnant. And I was so upset, so disappointed, so sad." She bit her lip. "I thought you didn't really love me."

"Oh, Valencia, no! That's not true."

"But that wasn't how it seemed at the time."

Afterwards, the two lay in the small bed in Seto's room. One unexpected pleasure of being pregnant was the heightened sensation during lovemaking. And Seto had reveled in Valencia's newfound pleasure. Valencia dozed blissfully, the first decent sleep she had had since learning she was pregnant. Setor studied her peaceful face and imagined waking up every morning to that vision for the rest of his life. Overcome by a wave of love, he leaned over and tenderly kissed her cheek.

Valencia stirred. "Yami…" she murmured sleepily.

Seto felt as if he'd been kicked in the face by Tea.

_Seto, you really are a fool. _

When Valencia awoke many hours later, she saw that the place in the bed next to her was empty. Wrapping herself in a blanket, she padded into the kitchen and saw Seto packing up items in boxes.

"Seto?"

Startled by her voice, he turned. "Oh. Hi, Valencia," he said without much enthusiasm and continued his packing. "Did you sleep well?"

"Yes. I haven't slept that well in days. Guess I needed it."

"That's good." Not looking at her, he grabbed a handful of forks and flung them into another box.

_He's deliberately trying to ignore me,_ thought Valencia as she watched Seto go about his work. _But why?_

She spoke up. "Seto, did you mean what you said earlier?"

"About what?"

"About wanting to marry me."

Seto stopped packing and looked at her. She looked so young and vulnerable with her hair down and wrapped in that blanket, bare feet and all. He was almost tempted to say 'yes', but he couldn't forget what she had said earlier.

Seto sighed. "Do you remember what you told me earlier about not wanting to marry Yami because he didn't really love you?"

Valencia's face fell. "Yes."

"Well, I don't want to marry someone who doesn't love me, either."

Valencia was puzzled by his response. "Seto? What are you talking about?"

"Valencia," he said quietly. "I overheard you. You said his name while you were sleeping."

The wounded look in his eyes was almost too much for her to bear.

_Oh, Seto. I'm sorry. All I do is hurt you. You've always been so good to me and all I do is break your heart._

"I think you should go home, Valencia. He's probably wondering where you are. Besides, I need to finish packing. Professor Hopskin is expecting me the day after tomorrow." Seto turned away from her and stuffed a roll of paper towels into another moving box.

Valencia opened her mouth to speak, but realized that nothing she said would be of any consolation to him. Not after what he had just told her. With a heavy heart, she went back into the bedroom to find her clothes.

Seto had finished packing in the kitchen and had moved into the living room when Valencia, fully dressed, emerged from the bedroom.

"I'm going now," she said quietly.

"Okay," he said, not bothering to look up from his work. "Take care of yourself."

_Seto, please don't shut me out like this. I still want to be your friend. Whether you believe it or not, I'll always care for you. _

"You too. Well, I'll see you around, I guess." Valencia sadly regarded her friend one last time and reached for the doorknob.

As the sound of the doorknob turning, he looked up.

_I can't let her leave. Not like this. Despite everything that's happened, I still love her._

"Wait, Valencia." He jumped up to embrace her. "I…I just want to let you know that if you ever need anything, anything at all, you can always call on me. I'll always be there for you."

"Oh, Seto," she said as tears started in her eyes. "I'll always be your friend, too. Always."

"And that's exactly what happened between us, Yami."

"I see." He started the car again. "Well, we'd better get going," he said quietly. "They're expecting us in Domino-City. We're already running late."

They drove the rest of the way in silence.


End file.
